Reflections on the Gospel (euangelion) of our Lord Jesus Christ from Holy Trinity Ecumenical Orthodox Church

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Let All Things Their Creator Bless

On a hill above my house -- between a church and a cemetery -- stands St. Francis. I like to think of him looking over us, encouraging us from our rebirth in the church to our entrance into a paradise whose gateway lies in the cemetery -- looking over us, encouraging us, praying with and for us, a three-dimensional icon. It snowed in my town last night, a rare event. This morning, while sledding with my daughter, I visited Francis and prayed with him. And I thought of this canticle, a part of The Song of the Three Young Men from the Book of Common Prayer.

A Song of Creation

Glorify the Lord, all you works of the Lord, *praise him and highly exalt him for ever.In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord, *praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, you angels and all powers of the Lord, *O heavens and all waters above the heavens.Sun and moon and stars of the sky, glorify the Lord, *praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, every shower of rain and fall of dew, *all winds and fire and heat.Winter and summer, glorify the Lord, *praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O chill and cold, *drops of dew and flakes of snow.Frost and cold, ice and sleet, glorify the Lord, *praise him and highly exalt him for ever.Glorify the Lord, O nights and days, *O shining light and enfolding dark.Storm clouds and thunderbolts, glorify the Lord, *praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Let us glorify the Lord: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; *praise him and highly exalt him for ever.In the firmament of his power, glorify the Lord, *praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

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Translator

Holy Trinity Ecumenical Orthodox Church: Introduction

Holy Trinity Ecumenical Orthodox* Church (Trinity Church) is a local expression of the one, holy, catholic and Apostolic church of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are a "community of baptized believers in which the apostolic faith is confessed and lived, the gospel is proclaimed, and the sacraments are celebrated" (Called to be the One Church, World Council of Churches, 2006). As did the earliest Christian disciples, we devote ourselves to the apostles' teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread (Eucharist), and the prayers (Acts 2:42). And we meet in the homes of our members as did many of the New Testament churches (Acts 20:20, Romans 16:3-5, Colossians 4:15).

* Ecumenical Orthodox is desciptive only and is not intended to imply affiliation with any Eastern or Oriental Orthodox jurisdiction.

Ecumenical

Trinity Church is ecumenical. We do not identify ourselves with any particular denomination or governing body, but rather with the full body of Christ, the church comprised of all the baptized faithful, in heaven and on earth. We welcome as brothers and sisters all who are in Christ Jesus and who obey his commandments. While we acknowledge that substantive doctrinal disagreements exist with other faith communities, we prefer to work these out together around the Table of our Lord in worship, prayer, and praise. We recognize not many churches but only one church as St. Paul taught:

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all (Ephesians 4:4-6).

Orthodox

Trinity Church is orthodox. We follow the urging of St. Jude, the brother of our Lord, to "contend for the faith which was once for all entrusted to the saints," (Jude 3). We look to the consensus of the faithful, to those things which have been believed and practiced "always, everywhere, and by all," (Commonitories, St. Vincent of Lerins, ca. 434). This faith has been preserved in the Scripture, the Creeds (Nicene and Apostles'), the Ecumenical Councils, the writing of the Church Fathers, and the teaching and worship (liturgy) of the church. We do not seek to innovate, but faithfully to preserve and pass down that which has been entrusted to us by Apostles and martyrs and all the faithful of every generation. We say yes to that which the church has accepted and no to that which she has rejected. We seek, further, to express our orthodoxy (right worship) in and through orthopraxy (right practice/living). To this end we share our lives in common, supporting one another in prayer and service and holding one another accountable to Christ and to his church.

Vision

Our vision for Trinity Church is neither new nor distinctive; it is Christ's vision of a kingdom of priests to serve his God and Father (Rev 1:6). To his glory we seek to:

love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and love our neightbor as ourselves;

live as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven and as resident aliens in this world;

show radical obedience to the commandments and example of our Lord Jesus Christ;

grow in personal and corporate holiness;

preserve the faith once for all entrusted to the saints; and

proclaim the Gospel to our world.

This, by God's grace, is who we are: an ecumentical, orthodox expression of the one, holy, catholic, and Apostolic church of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Location

Trinity Church is located in Knoxville, Tennessee and welcomes visitors. Please contact us for addition information.

Contact Trinity Church

Please contact Trinity Church at knoxtrinity@aol.com for additional information, for service times and location, or with prayer requests.